Press Release Article

PORT AUTHORITY BOARD TAKES ACTION ON SEVERAL ITEMS

At its monthly meeting this morning, the Port Authority Board of Commissioners authorized:

$4.5 million in planning to replace the George Washington Bridge's suspender ropes and rehabilitate the cables that support the bridge's roadway deck;

$4 million in planning for the upgrade of existing access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance equipment at the George Washington Bridge and Bus Station, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Amendments to agreements with the City of New York involving the lease of the New York Airports and the sale of surplus Queens West property under which the City and Port Authority will transfer obligations of equal value. The transfer will allow the Port Authority's obligation to invest $100 million in capital funds in Queens to be transferred to the City of New York in lieu of the City's obligation to pay $100 million payment to the Port Authority for the Queens West sale.

Through its Committee on Operations, a 54-month agreement with employees represented by the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

An agreement with the Jamaica Business Resource Center for the Port Authority to provide $200,000 for the establishment of a program to assist Minority- and Women-owned businesses in accessing capital and bonding.

CONTACT: Port Authority of New York and New JerseySteve Coleman, 212 435-7777The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates many of the busiest and most important transportation links in the region. They include John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, Stewart International and Teterboro airports; AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark; the George Washington Bridge and Bus Station; the Lincoln and Holland tunnels; the three bridges between Staten Island and New Jersey; the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) rapid-transit system; Port Newark; the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal; the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island; the Port Authority Auto Marine Terminal; the Brooklyn Piers/Red Hook Container Terminal; the Greenville Yard-Port Authority Marine Terminal; and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The agency also owns the 16-acre World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan and is a partner in the Access to the Region's Core tunnel project.